to think it's not possible to give up sugar

[enifing]

I have heard people suggest this from time to time. It's not possible with DCs, is it?

We've given up most cereal, but porridge has to have sugar or some sugar substitute.

Stewed fruit can't be fine without sugar.

Home baking, absolute no-no.

How dull would life be? I would probably overdose on salt instead...

Even rhubarb, Golf? Seems to be more sugar than rhubarb in stewed rhubarb (wonderful stuff).

But it can't make you fat cos it's healthy, innit?

What's the difference between refined and unrefined sugar, then? Is it like processing food?

Steam together some peeled, sliced apple and some prunes or dried apricots. Whizz with a hand blender. Stir through porridge or full fat Greek yoghurt. No sugar, absolutely delish.

I've mostly cut sugar out and the weight has fallen off.

I couldn't do it, but plenty of people have.

If you want to eat sugar, and you want to lose weight, you have to decide what you want more
TBH I want to eat sugar more.

I've had some long spells of no sugar, I ate a lot more fat instead. Like greek yogurt with the porridge is nice.

Did OP say she wanted to lose weight?

Still, I think it's like meat.
I was vegetarian for 17 yrs & that was fine, honestly I thought so at the time.
But truth is, it's so much easier to not worry about it. I shudder a little at the hassle of ever trying to go veggie again.
Would be the same with avoiding sugar. I know I should for sake of my teeth, but even so...
Today I wanted a frozen cool-down item in the middle of a very hot walk. Strangely enough, all the frozen items in the shop had sugar or artificial sweeteners. Honey is still sugar.

Sorry there is virtually no nutritional difference between dark and white sugar and honey is nearly all sugar, tasty but still sugar. The trouble with bans they become socially difficult and can make you appear a bit obsessive ( doesn't apply to genuine ethical/ religious beliefs or allegeries) . Would you say no to a taste of the jam my 94 year old grandma in law still manages to make or a Childs first independently made cake.Food is about a lot more than eating.
Well done to those who have lost weight using this method it obviously works for you!

Who eats stewed fruit anyway?!

Just have a fresh fruit salad instead.

You'd be better off changing your taste buds than trying to find alternatives for sugar.

And porridge is bloody minging anyway- whatever you do to it.

I gave up sugar for 2 whole years a few years ago, I didn't loose weight as I was really slim anyway and I ate plenty of cheese.

I've recently given it up again (not including bread). I don't find it that difficult. I don't like cereal for breakfast anyway and I'm not even missing chocolate or cake really. For treats I eat cheese on toast or cheese and crackers. I eat a small amount of fruit. I drink fruity green tea. I thought it would be harder than it is. As long as I'm not hungry it's not a problem.

This sugar obsession is for my DD. I want to believe she can eat less sugar.

Thanks, Elphaba, I'll give that a try, too. Is the sugar in dried fruit less bad, or do you just end up eating less of it?

I haven't cut it out completely, but I've certainly cut it right down to a fraction of what it was. Moderation I guess.

I'm with bikeandrun

Alice, I think that's wise. Moderation in all things. If only I could work out what was moderate... Hence my interest in extremes, I suppose.

I wouldn't even know where to start with giving up sugar. Does fruit count? That's full of sugar isn't it? Yogurt, baked beans, cereal?
I would end up eating it and not even knowing.
Any tips on things to avoid?

Porridge is delicious with almond milk and chopped berries or ordinary milk and banana and chopped nuts. No sugar or salt required. I didn't even know you are supposed to put salt in it!

Who eats stewed fruit anyway?

Anyone who likes crumble (yum).

The trouble with bans they become socially difficult and can make you appear a bit obsessive ( doesn't apply to genuine ethical/ religious beliefs or allegeries) . Would you say no to a taste of the jam my 94 year old grandma in law still manages to make or a Childs first independently made cake.Food is about a lot more than eating.

Totally agree with what bike has said here. That's why I've 'mostly' and not 'completely' given up sugar.

I think you actually end up eating more of dried fruit, OP. It's easier to eat four prunes than four plums, for example. That's why I use the apple. It stretches the dried fruit a bit further so you don't gorge on it.

I have not only given up sugar, but gone low carb so I don't eat bread/potatoes/rice/pasta/ wheat either.

Of course it is possible, but it's not particularly easy.

The key to me has been to find substitutes, eg low carb bread (can't live without it) courgetti, and I also eat high cocoa content chocolate from hotel chocolat, which is low in sugar.

If someone said they'd pay you £10000 not to eat sugar for a week, you'd find a way to do it, so I think the question is not whether or not it's possible but whether it's worth doing (for you)?

I've just started making my own chocolate with cocoa butter and raw cocoa powder. I like it bitter but add peppermint oil or nuts and orange oil sometimes.

It's dead easy to make and really nice, but you can agave syrup or honey for a touch of sweetness if you fancy.

Cut it down gradually and you will find that things you eat happily now will become horribly sweet and sickly.

For fruit you could try sweet cicely which has a natural sweetness so when added to fruit you need less sugar.

Don't forget a lot of processed foods have sugar added and it's happening more and more it seems to me eg M& S tabbouleh used to be quite tangy now to me it tastes sweet. So cooking from scratch is important.

That sounds eminently reasonable, maggie. I think it's the claim that it's easy, just chuck out the sugar, that has made me go in the past.

I thought dried fruit wasn't great for teeth? I read somewhere our kids eat too many raisins!

Hi hi, a few of us are doing it so feel free to join us! Quit Sugar thread

Personally, I have given up added sugar, particularly those in drinks. And I relax rules on the weekends. For me, I think this is sustainable.

Low sugar is a far more effective diet than low fat and after a while you start tasting things properly again and it surprising how your hungar subsides when you're not living thought sugar peaks and troughs all day every day.

That said.. Sweets are nice, crumble is heaven and I cannot live without chocolate so I decided to low carb (sugar) in the week but have occasional weekends off.

2.5 stone off since Jan, so it's obviously working.

The sweet poison quit plan is a good book on this subject.

Refined sugar includes honey, dried fruit and maple syrup. It is in baked beans and the vast majority of cereals and ketchup and bread. Whole fruit is ok as the fibre changes the way you digest the sugar. Lactose and glucose are ok according to this book. Milk has around 5% sugar from the lactose.

I try to give it up but fall off the wagon a lot. I like stewed rhubarb with yogurt. I read labels and aim for less than 5% sugar so not completely given it up. It is hard but gets easier after the first few days. Social situations are difficult I agree but I found after saying no thank you a few times that no one really cares what you eat.

Glucose is just one molecule, sucrose is two, so glucose is absorbed even faster than sugar. That's why glucose is so useful for endurance athletes. Sugar is sugar whether it is from fruit, honey or sugar cane or beet.

I gave up sugar for a year and lost lots of weight .

I can recommend date syrup. Sweet and yummy, available in health food shops. Cinnamon and fresh mint for sweetness too. Medjool dates are sweeter than haribo and OMG delicious! Waitrose ones are the best I've found.

Good luck